Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have helped in the resurgence of Red Bull as a powerhouse of the F1 grid. From 2014 to 2021, Mercedes did not give any team a chance to win the constructor title. They dominated the turbo-hybrid era, also known as the ‘Mercedes Era.’ Sir Lewis Hamilton was the most dominant driver back then, winning six Driver’s World Championships between 2014 and 2020. He was going to win another Driver’s title for the fifth time in a row back in 2021 when Max Verstappen denied him the coveted eighth title. Albeit, Hamilton will get another chance next year with Ferrari to fight for winning the coveted eighth Driver’s World championship.
Then, he could surpass the great Michael Schumacher once and for all. So far, the record book says that there are two ‘Seven-time champions’ in Formula 1. Currently, the Dutch driver who denied Hamilton the 2021 Driver’s title is on his way to winning his fourth world championship in a row. But things have changed dramatically for Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the last six races. Suddenly, the Austrian team is no longer the most dominant team in the grid.
Sergio Perez Mentioned “Different Styles Of Max Verstappen Disguised Red Bull Issues”
Currently, McLaren is only eight points behind Red Bull in the constructor standings. There are only eight more Grands Prix remaining this year. Hence, Christian Horner’s team can fall behind in the next race in Baku, Azerbaijan. They have been winless in the last six races. Sergio Perez has been winless so far this year. On the other hand, the reigning triple-time champion driver had won seven of the first ten GPs in 2024. But since then, he has been on a six-race losing streak. In the last race in Monza, Italy, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went on to finish on the top of the podium. Max Verstappen finished at P6.
Lately, Sergio Perez told the media, including ESPN, “Red Bull could not read the severity of the problems in the RB20 car because Max was coping well with them.” Moreover, Checo was like, “I could benefit much more from any fix to that car than Verstappen.” Clearly, there are certain issues that have caused the RB20 car to slow down. Prior to the race in Baku, Sergio Perez tried to point out the different styles of the Dutch racer that may have masked the Red Bull problems. When Max was winning seven races this year, the Mexican driver kept on struggling. In the last 11 rounds, Checo has failed to finish in the top three.
The Austrian Team In Deep Trouble
Lando Norris is 62 points behind Max Verstappen right now in the Driver’s standings. Meanwhile, Checo is in seventh place. In a recent interview at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Mexican driver mentioned that the Red Bull issues were not obvious with Verstappen’s driving style, but with his style it kept getting more noticeable. Moreover, Perez pointed at the race number three of 2024 where the issues started to become apparent.
Checo said his issues kept getting worse and at present, Max Verstappen seems to find the same problems. If the team successfully resolves the issues then Checo believes it will help him even more than Max because of their different driving styles. Red Bull may have learned their lessons and will come up with new upgrades in Baku.
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